Step 14: Dry time

Step 15: Shiny happy

Once your Borax crystal decorations have dried it's time to put them on display for all the world, or at least your visitors to see. It's nice to have...

Face it, crystals are cool. Plus they work nicely into the whole holiday/winter/snowflake-y theme. You could use a few new decorations and out smarting your kids for once might lift your spirits a bit seeing that you've been pretty down about spending all that cash on the holidays.

Why not amaze the kids, flaunt your knowledge of six-sided hexagonal shapes and sparkle up the joint a bit for the holidays..whichever they may be...with a few Borax crystal decorations?This old time-y project is fun for the whole family.

Please note that this project uses Borax, a common household cleaner/chemical and can be harmful if ingested particularly by the little ones. Use constant supervision and do not allow children to touch, eat or inhale Borax. This is based on a pretty common grade school science experiment about the properties of crystals. Here is more information about the chemical properties of Borax:

Step 1: Gather necessary materials

To make these awesome crystal decorations you need a few items most, if not all, of which you have around your house.

You'll need:

1 large-ish empty recycled glass jar with a preferably wide mouth (I like to use glass peanut butter jars because they tend to have large openings and we just seem to have an over abundant supply of them given our PB & J addiction)

Large pipe cleaners or as they are sometimes fancifully called "chenille stems" (I prefer single colored stems because they add a nice pop of pigment to the crystals)

Borax (20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster). If you're having a hard time finding Borax I recommend checking your grandparent's laundry room or go to the detergent aisle of your local AARP grocery shopping hot-spot and you're sure to locate a box.

1 Tablespoon measuring spoon

1 spoon for stirring

Boiling hot water

Pencil

String (we like embroidery floss or twine but even unused dental floss works)

I'll admit it's really difficult. I usually use jar I've recycled so that if I can't get the crystals out I can let go of the jar w/out not being too disappointed. Try pouring hot water in the jar & stir to dissolve the Borax. If you're trying to save the crystals I'm not sure, maybe carefully use a knife?

Thank you everyone for your comments and concerns over the potential hazards of mishandling Borax. I've been doing this project for years and have always used constant supervision when doing it with children. Borax is indeed harmful if swallowed. I'm revising my Instructable with a disclaimer and safety instructions. This is a pretty common grade school science experiment and is safe with the proper supervision--here's some more information on Borax that you might find helpful:

very pretty, and clever, however something worried me a lot. Borax at that saturation is also toxic! and dermal absorbtion is possible. my concern would be very young toddlers either keeping one in their hand to play with, or worse to suck on! and also any household pets that may want to have a toy too. i really do not mean to dampen the parade, just please be careful about access to them.

I keep hearing conflicting reports about borax's toxicity. I have read it is poisonous and should be handles with care, can be used as a roach repellent, and in 2 different herbal books that it can be added to baths and face concoctions. Can someone please shed some light on this?

http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/BO/boron.htmlthis will give you some idea. as a bath or face product the amount used would be at much less strength than the concentrated crystal forming brew. it is good for garden issues -in deficient soils cabbages split open, too much and plants die! the disposal of the crystal brew should be considered too. that volume would do to apply to a football ground, as a watered down application.I would add hot water to that remnant, dilute that volume by say 1gallon and then add a fair bit of honey! it would supply you and 2 neighbours with a years ant killer:-)hope this sheds some light, the dose makes the poison!

Why are these natural body care books recommending this? Then again a lot of things are fine except when you are pregnant, and those lists are very thourough. Idk...

I don't see a problem with this project though, as long as no one eats them.

Instead of ant killer you could use the leftovers in your laundry. Just add a few teaspoons per load. Apparently it keeps the soap from sticking to anything and so leaves your clothes(or skin in some recipes) cleaner. I use it in my laundry sometimes and it seems to work well.

hi taraist, in the laundry borax is for removing stains, and handy for woolens. never noticed soap sticking unless i have used pure yellow soap grated, and then that was a gross floaty mess:-( a few drops of eucalyptus oil is better for debugging clothes before storage. as to why? books use it, the line "the dose- is the poison" holds true ,in small amounts it is fine and not an issue, my whole point about the safety was that this instructable uses a Super Saturated solution! and i was glad to see a safety rider was added promptly. salt would do the same and be safer! and the sugar idea..well ..not for storage and also likely to go sticky if any humidity in the room ie from the damp sand round a tree for eg. and the ant factor too, especially here in australia, our xmas being in ant season ie summer. have a merry xmas!

I tried this instructable last night and it worked marvelously! Thank you for this awesome idea. As for the toxicity problem...I worried a little about that, too, however, good common sense should remedy that. For example, keeping out of reach of children and pets! In all honesty, a glass ornament could fall on the ground and shatter and be stepped on and present a danger. There are dangers everywhere and common sense is the only way to combat those potential dangers. I am thinking myself about giving it a coat of clear gloss to see if I can make it hold up better and it may also provide a barrier to where there would be no transdermal absorption.

sorry for bothering you, but if I'd like to use something else nt chenille stem like copper wire, or artificial flower silk flower or porcelain flower does crystal stick to it? or only specific object we use anythign else can't be used. Thanks

I am not sure, but I have made crystals in the past and there are many other ways to make crystals. Pipe cleaners work well, but anything that will hold the crystals (so something kinda furry like pipe cleaners) should work.

My comp. went for a crap at x-mas so I didn't get to tell you.... I did this with my After School Group (aged 4-12) , it was their gift for their parents. At first I had them made inside jars but the kids pipecleaner shapes (i let them create their own) were to wide so I ended up cutting a 2L milk catrton in half, which worked much better. Some observations the kids & I made: > the fuzzier the pipecleaner the more crystals stuck. > we used about 7-8 Tbsp. of Borax in the milk container > wearing vinyl gloves feels weird, wearing safety glasses is "right awsome" > a tree shape, candycane shape, snowflake shape grew the most crystals > do not let the water cool before stirring in the borax, reboil the water

We will probablly do this again to see what the crystals will & will not grow on! Thanx for this amazing project!!!